The importance of school leaders in school health promotion. A European call for systematic integration of health in professional development

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • Karina Leksy
  • Grzegorz Gawron
  • Rafaela Rosário
  • Marjorita Sormunen
  • Veronica Velasco
  • Anita Sandmeier
  • Venka Simovska
  • Tomasz Wojtasik
  • Kevin Dadaczynski

School leaders such as principals are key not only for educational and school quality but also for initiating and sustainably anchoring any innovation in schools. Although there is widespread agreement about the importance of holistic approaches to school health promotion, the role of principals has received increased, but not yet systematic, attention. In this context, it is unclear which leadership competencies are needed and to what extent they are taught. Hence, this paper aims to reflect whether and to what extend health promotion plays a role in preservice and inservice training of principals in Europe. Based on the results we call for a more systematic analysis of existing teaching opportunities and teaching needs for health-promoting leadership, the development of a European competence framework for health-promoting leadership, the development and implementation of a European system that monitors and evaluates the effectiveness of those preservice and inservice training programs, and the development of case-studies to stimulate a mutual learning process.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1297970
JournalFrontiers in Public Health
Volume11
Number of pages6
ISSN2296-2565
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 04.01.2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research activities were co-financed by the funds granted under the Research Excellence Initiative of the University of Silesia in Katowice.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2024 Leksy, Gawron, Rosário, Sormunen, Velasco, Sandmeier, Simovska, Wojtasik and Dadaczynski.

    Research areas

  • competence framework, Health Promoting School, health-promoting leadership, pre-service and in-service training, school principals
  • Psychology